Andy Goode kicked all Worcester's points as they ended a run of three Aviva Premiership defeats and extended Northampton's winless sequence to four games in a scrappy contest at Sixways. The fly-half was on target with four of six penalty attempts as the Warriors edged a deserved victory. Stephen Myler kicked the visitors' points.

Worcester's director of rugby, Richard Hill, had spoken of his side's need to match Northampton in the close exchanges and his pack put pressure on Saints' strong set-piece and carrying game. In the full-back Errie Claassens, Worcester had the game's stand-out back.

Saints are without several key players on World Cup duty but this was an ineffective display and their director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, will be concerned at the ill-discipline which saw the prop Brian Mujati sent to the sin-bin in the second half.

Northampton put themselves under pressure from the off when the wing Paul Diggin and full-back Greig Tonks failed to agree on who was going to claim a towering up and under from Claassens. Their poor start continued as they conceded a soft penalty. Goode was off target from out on the right but made amends in the ninth minute from the opposite side.

Myler levelled matters following Northampton's first spell in the Worcester half but the hosts were playing with the greater fluency. The flanker Jake Abbott made a foray into Saints territory before a lovely break from Claassens saw Miles Benjamin forced out as he closed in on the line. Claassens then produced another wonderful run after hitting the line at pace but he was unable to hold on as he was brought to ground.

Worcester gained some reward for their greater attacking threat when Goode knocked over a monster penalty from just inside his own half to re-establish the lead on the half-hour, after Mujati was penalised for slipping his bind at a scrum. Saints hit back with their best attack of the half as strong running from Jon Clarke freed Diggin but the wing was pulled down by Claassens and the chance was lost.

The second half started with another Goode penalty, although the former England fly-half also missed a presentable chance. The steady stream of penalties continued with the referee, David Rose, warning the Saints captain, Phil Dowson; Mujati was shown a yellow card seconds later, after illegally halting a close-range Worcester attack.

Despite their numerical disadvantage Saints went closest to scoring the first try as the wing Scott Armstrong slipped through the home defence but Worcester's determined rearguard kept them out.

Goode missed a snap drop-goal just past the hour but his fourth penalty was enough to seal the win, the Saints replacement Ryan Lamb missing a penalty and a drop-goal effort late on.